Fall/Winter 2010/11 -

Fall/Winter 2010/11 -

Fall/Winter 2010/11 -

Fall/Winter 2010/11 -

Spring/Summer 2010 -

Spring/Summer 2010 -

Spring/Summer 2010 -

Spring/Summer 2010 -

Spring/Summer 2010 -

Spring/Summer 2010 -

"Yes, fashion shows can be quite nerve-wracking. But there's
that special moment when everything is ready, models are about to
go out and you think: 'That's exactly how I had imagined it'. It's
as if your sketchbook had been brought to life"

Erdem Moralioğlu was born in Canada from a
Turkish father and a British mother. Both cultures have informed
his approach to creativity.

His mother was really obsessed with
keeping us up on Masterpiece Theatre and all those Merchant Ivory
films. I grew up watching TV in the basement in Canada, totally
immersed in this romanticized idea of what England was.

On the other hand, the traditional family holidays in Istanbul
balanced his British sensitivity: his collections are developed in
a perfect balance between floral prints (suitably
computer-modified) and sinuous cuts; great classic textile choices
and rock and roll details; intriguing lace and military-style
rigor.

In 2005 he won the Fashion Fringe Award and
debuted with his personal line. In 2006, Claudia Schiffer
chose an Erdem piece to wear on the BAFTA's red
carpet but, most important of all, Julia Gilhart,
the fashion director of Barneys New York, wore one of his
outfits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume
Institute Gala in 2006, the Anglomania
edition.

About him

Apart from Hollywood stars - Keira Knightley or
Kirsten Dunst, for instance- also Michelle
Obama, Sarah Brown and Samantha
Cameron are often spotted wearing Erdem creations. gIt's
quite interesting for a designer to be able to cover such a wide
range of personalities.

In 2009 a selection of Erdem garments was shown at
Fashion in Motion at the Raphael Gallery
of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

"I never think about what's sexy. I don't agonize
over whether her bum will look big in something. I focus on
the silhouettes and the proportions and hope that takes
care of everything."

In 2010 he met Queen Elizabeth II and before
the encounter he spent a lot of time deciding what to wear: "It's
complicated".

His outstanding quality

"I like the idea that it's about objects of desire -
creating a garment that someone absolutely wants and can relate to.
It's not really related to a particular season - The Erdem
girl will wear something whenever she wants. I like things
to feel very special and very individual - hopefully, they're
pieces that someone really treasures
and enjoys wearing."

The piece of advice

"Study the technique, go to college, start working in the
industry straightaway before conceiving your personal project.
It's crucial that you understand who you are, and what you
want to do."

Awards

After winning the Fashion Fringe Award in 2005,
in 2007 he won the Swarovski British Fashion Council
Fashion Enterprise Award, the BFC's Fashion
Forward in 2008 and, in 2010, the BFC/VogueFashion Fund prize worth 200,000 pound, and
obtained the counseling from the most prominent names in the
industry, at his disposal to help him develop his own brand in a
more international context.

What's next

Opening a boutique: "Maybe not in London, who knows. Even if
right now I have no intention of moving." After collaborating with
Nicholas Kirkwood,
he hopes he will be able to keep working on footwear. "I am not
sure, instead, that a menswear line would be the right thing to do,
at least now. Even if there was a coat this year I would have
loved to wear in a man's version."

Method

The prints and the outfits are created at the same time. "We're
fabric-based
at the beginning. That's how we piece the collection together."

"I also like the idea of contradicting yourself a little
bit, so there's often a reaction to the previous
season."

The greates dream

"I'm living it now."

Mentors The most influential figures, those who enabled him to
understand that he wanted to become an independent designer, are
without doubt his teachers at college. And his
mother: "It's going to sound so Oedipal, but my mum was so
well dressed and lovely, she was quite important."

His creations are "They are timeless, elegant, accidental.
I like to experiment with colors and textiles. And the results are
often unpredictable."

Personal style

"I am a uniform kind of guy: I find an ensemble that I like
and stick to it."

Inspirations

"Art, books, the area I live in (East London) and all
the things that happen to me. I keep my eyes wide open all the
time, and not only on fashion."

The Fall/Winter 2010/11 collection was partly inspired by the
teenager wardrobe of his sister Sara; in part also by a couple of
disaster movies "like Alive and Picnic at Hanging Rock.
They both have a lot of common, I guess - they're both about a
group of students who go missing and have to survive somewhere that
they're not used to. So maybe it's all about
surviving."

Favorite designer "Vionnet and Cristobal Balenciaga. My
top three fashion influences are Yves Saint Laurent,
for his sensitivity, use of color and devotion to making women
elegant; Mainbocher, who designed some of Wallis Simpson's clothes,
and did great embellished dresses; and Charles James because of the
way he cut."

Style icon

Wallis Simpson, for the ideal tension. But "The Erdem woman has remained the
same, she has never been concerned with being cool. She's quite
seasonless, in a way. She's a woman who does what she wants and is
strong."

"She is a clever and brave woman, she's not concerned with the
bag or the shoe of the season but is passionate about
objects for the purest of reasons: the joy of them."